Monday, November 30, 2015

A long...

...but useful and necessary analysis of the recent Synod on the Family is here...

Pray for Pope Francis. We were so blessed with Familiaris Consortio and  St John Paul the Great.

Rorate Coeli....To rural shires...

...and a family christening on this First Sunday of Advent, the procession to the font led by a glorious Rorate coeli desuper...Drop dew, ye Heavens...The baby's grandfather, a Deacon, presided, and the baby's young uncles and aunts formed a choir, singing most beautifully (the uncles include former choristers at Westminster Cathedral)...the church was filled with friends and relations, the water for the baptism had been brought specially from a saint's well in Cornwall, and there was a tender moment as the young parents, with their little daughter and newly-baptised son, were blessed by the deacon/grandfather...

We finished with a rousing rendition of "On Jordan's bank.." and then, appropriately, walked along in the evening dusk and lamplight  by a lovely river, to a fine old Tithe Barn now used for just such family gatherings, where there was a magnificent Tea, with sandwiches, and scones-with-jam-and-cream and  simply wonderful cakes.

As assorted small children played cheerily on the floor, grown-ups greeted and hugged and talked and reminisced,..this was the kind of gathering that makes Auntie's heart rejoice...

Saturday, November 28, 2015

...AND IT WAS A JOY!!!

...the  2015 Towards Advent Festival of Catholic Culture was a great day.

The choir of St James School, Twickenham, sang a lovely Christmas carol, and then the Cardinal Archbishop opened the Festival, with a beautiful speech reminding us about Advent as the season of waiting, and also of travelling - like Mary and Joseph on their way to Bethlehem.  He asked us to give our throughts in particular to people who were journeying in distress: the Christian refugees feeling religious persecution, leaving their homes and land, in order to hold on to their faith. He reminded us too about the Year of Mercy with its message of the greatness of God's love....

And so the Festival opened, the choir singing a glorious Salve Regina, and then all present joining in "O come O come Emmanuel..."  It was a moving moment to be standing on the platform at the  Cathedral Hall, sharing the hymn-sheet with the Cardinal, with an absolutely packed crowd all singing the ancient Advent carol of hope and journeying...

The young winner of our Towards Advent Essay Project, Agnes Freely, of The Laurels School,  was presented with her prize by the Cardinal: I had wrapped it up and placed it beneath the big Christmas Tree on the platform, The prize was books, and I topped it with what looks like a small bag of Brussels sprouts...they are chocolate ones!

A good and happy day: books and Advent calendars, monastic produce, rosaries, home-made soaps and jams and jellies and more, and more...a powerful workshop on the plight of Chrsitians in the Middle East...  the joyful witness of the dedicated Franciscan Friars (one of whom, at my request, blessed the beautiful new book I bought in which to record my Dissertation research, as recommended by the U niversity authorities)...Knights of St Columba wearing impressive ribboned collars and medals, ladies from the Friends of the Venerabile with golden shoulder-sashes...oh, and much, much more. People had travelled from far and wide in order to come, and the wonderful team doing the coffee from a massive tall percolator and delicious sandwiches and cakes never once flagged in their hospitality...

A young relative had come along with his mother to help, and delivered leafletss with me outside the Cathedral urging people to "come to the Festival - just round the corner, with freshly-brewed coffee!"... his enthusiasm seemed to be infectious - we got a number of people deciding to do just that.  Later he and I went up the Tower of the Cathedral - with warm thanks to the kind and delightful young lady in charge who made it a really special day for this nine-year-old boy, who was thrilled to stand gazing out across that stunning view of London "with the cars looking just like toy cars!" and the great green domes of the Cathedral lying way below us...

We have been running this Festival every year of this new Millenium - fifteen years so far, a decade and a half. A tradition established, and more to come..






Friday, November 27, 2015

And here is a cheery piece explaining why the Festival happens...

read here...

TOWARDS ADVENT...

...the big Festival is TOMORROW!!!! Sat Nov 28th,

Westminster Cathedral Hall. Be there! Official opening 10.30am with glorious music, freshly brewed coffee, and a warm welcome!

Everyone is welcome. Admission free; stalls and displays from a crowded variety of Catholic groups and organisations, talks and workshops (tickets  just £2 each), delicious food served all day...

Nearest tube: Victoria or St James Park. You can't miss the Cathedral - look for the tall bell-tower and the Papal flag and Union Jack!

I recommend...

...the new booklet Religious Freedom Today produced by the CTS. Author is John Newton, of Aid to the Church in Need. It explores the whole topic at a deep level, looking at the Church's teaching, and echoing the statement of Benedict XVI that religious liberty "should be understood, then, not merely as immunity from coercion, but even more fundamentally as an ability to order one's own choices in accordance with truth". Newton details examples of restriction of religious practice and puts these in the context of a rich theological insight about freedom and human rights, linked to an authentic development of Catholic teaching centred on the dignity of the human person. The address of Pope Benedict XVI to the United Nations General Assembly is important on all this. Meanwhile the plight of persecuted Christians lays a deep claim on the compassion of us all, and ACN is doing excellent work...


Thursday, November 26, 2015

A talented young American editor...

...asked me to write something about Harvest traditions in Britain, to link with the celebration of Thanksgiving in the USA. You can read the result here...

Tuesday, November 24, 2015

A visit...

...to this school in Liverpool on Monday, to present prizes won by pupils in the 2015 Schools Bible Project. A warm welcome, and I was impressed with the school - an independent initiative, offering an excellent education.

I travelled to Liverpool on Sunday evening, staying overnight at the Adelphi Hotel...a magnificent great place with a majestic feel, worthy of the city's days as the great Atlantic port.   Huge rooms for banquets and dances, enormous staircases and mile after mile of vast, rather intimidating, carpeted corridors. My room was inexpensive but comfortable: all I wanted or needed was a  bath, a cup of tea and a sandwich, and good sleep, all of which I got. One felt that the hotel's glory days may already have passed....but staff were friendly, busy and efficient and it seems that conferences and dinners and so on continue to flourish there: it would certainly be a superb venue for any major event or celebration.

Judging by the shrieks and yells of drunken girls in the streets late at night, however, Liverpool now is like other British cities and towns at weekends: the aim is not style and fun and having a special evening, but simply getting completely drunk and possibly being sick in the street.  Which is depressing.

Monday, November 23, 2015

and you might enjoy...

reading this, too...

On a cheerier note...

..we are still allowed to hold a  traditional Christian procession in London ...

I was travelling back from Liverpool...

...when I read about the blocking of the "Our Father" thing (see below). The organisation that made the decision is called Digital Cinema Media and its website says "Come and say hello at 350 Euston Road  London NW1 3AX"  so I thought I would do so. It wasn't hard to find:  posh office building about 5 minutes' walk from Euston.

They aren't really expecting visitors, and the idea that I might just come and say hello obviously baffled them a bit, but they were perfectly polite. They have a couple of  jars of popcorn on the reception desk and comfy chairs for visitors.   They sent a young lady to talk to me, who was very polite and  when I asked why the "Our Father"  feature had been banned, she said what she had been told to say about their policy having been in place for a very long time, and that it applied to all religious and political advertisments. I think it was rather unfair of the company to make her say that, as  apparently the truth is that the feature was gladly agreed back in July and then suddenly banned a while later.   But it is possible that the newspapers have got it all wrong, and the company planned to ban it from the beginning.

She is a nice young lady and I gave her my name and email and she said the company would be in touch with me. I do hope they are.

If Britain is going to be caught in in difficult times over the next few years, it is possible that people will need the message of hope, forgiveness, and freedom from fear that this old prayer - which has been in place for a very long time - can give. I really am interested in why the people at DCM want to prevent it from being shown in cinemas.

...and you can also watch it...

here...from which you can embed it into your blog.. Email it to friends, Twitter it, Facebook it...make sure that it reaches fifty times the people it would have reached if the idiotic cinema people hadn't tried to ban it.

Pray for our country.

Watch this video....and send it on...

Saturday, November 21, 2015

On animal rights and wrongs...

...read this...

Traditional Catholic feasts and seasons...

...and a visit to the Church of the English Martyrs at Horley, where the excellent parish priest Fr Ian Vane had invited me to speak on this subject. A cold evening, a warm welcome, and a good attendance.  People enjoy exploring the calendar and how it works, discovering the allusions to Christmas in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, discussing origins of pub signs and nursery rhymes, learning about how the Advent wreath first came to Britain via the Lunn family and downhill skiing, and more...




The followers of Mohammed...

...who believe passionately in establishing a Caliphate  to include Britain, are doubtless busy planning their next move.

I squeezed on to a busy train manouvering a large suitcase on wheels, a cup of coffee misguidedly bought at the station, a backpack, and a newspaper. People were kind and helped  to mop up spilt coffee, offered me a seat, and were chatty and pleasant. London at its best can be very agreeable.

How much, I mused, am I  helping to uphold Christianity by ferrying jars of home-made jam, wrapped in towels, across the London suburbs?

The jam - including Auntie's best-yet Bramble Jelly and Apple Cheese - is destined for sale at the Towards Advent Festival at Westminster Cathedral Hall next weekend. A rather modest contribution to the front-line defence of Christianity. I suppose it's the sort of thing that tiresome Catholic ladies have been doing since the Acts of the Apostles.  After storing the jam in its temporary home while it awaits onward delivery to the Festival, I joined a team delivering leaflets around The Borough. The leaflets give information about the local church and times of Masses etc. One group of flats proved difficult to access, so I clambered over the railings. A mistake, as I blackened my hands and clothes. It took a good while to get the stuff off...I think the railings are painted to help deter burglars.



Friday, November 20, 2015

The Tyburn nuns...

...are a much-loved part of London, a place of peace and prayer  which is also a focus of postive action, and a centre where minds meet. They are holding a "Light to the Natiuons" concert in January to raise funds for their mission work: info here.  I shall certainly be going: an ideal way to start the New Year and there will be Bach, Vivaldi, Mendelssohn.  Date is Jan 2nd, at St James. Spanish Place...

Thursday, November 19, 2015

The Catholic Union...

...met this evening, after a glorious sung Mass at Westminster Cathedral.... the Union is v. active, and there was a detailed report on events in Parliament including the defeat (DG!) of the Marris Bill which would have introduced legalised killing.  It seems likely that the battle will now go to the courts...campaigners seeking to impose things that way, because they have failed to get Parliament to agree to their plans.

The Education/Outreach committee reported on the various projects and this was more encouraging, with some  excellent public lectures on aspects of education, some examples of  children's work, in the "Our Father" Project,  a report on the Catholic Young Writer Award   which is run by the CU Charitable Trust,and so on.

Afterwards a drinks reception with much greeting of friends and good talk...encouraging to meet young people who are becoming active...

The Catholic Union Charitable Trust is sponsoring a lecture by Francis Campbell, former UK Ambassador to the Holy see, on catholicism in the Secular World. Info here

....Difficult to find...

...anything suitable for children to offer some useful teaching using the Scripture readings at Mass each Sunday. There are a number of books, but they all offer large crude drawings aimed at 5 year olds to cut out and colour in and glue on to cardboard or stick together to form a sort of  paper toy. It's along the lines of:  "Jesus said 'I am the vine.'  Cut out these grapes and stick them on the vine."   and so on.This means that children learn to colour and stick, but do not absorb much about the Gospel of the day.

All good catechists say "Well, teaching shouldn't be happening on Sunday during the Mass anyway...instead children should be taught systematically in classes after school, or by parents, or whatever."  But that's like the story of the chap who got lost in the city and asked the way to the park and was told "Well, now, if I were going there, I wouldn't start from here".  We have no choice but to start from where we are, if we want to go somewhere better.    If childen are coming to a Liturgy of the Word organised by kindly people, they  need to have some genuine encounter with the Word, and then be taken in to Mass to encounter the Word made Flesh. It has often happened in the history of the Church that children, properly taught, begin to teach their parents.

There is a lot of goodwill around: people volunteer to be catechists and the pattern they are given is to have the children for a short while every Sunday morning, during the Liturgy of the Word. Starting from here - even if it isn't where we want to be, or are meant to be - it is possible to achieve something. But some good material is neccessary.




There's something extremely sad...

...about the realisation that all the solemn denouncing and presentation of floral tributes that have followed the ghastly Paris bombing doesn't really begin to meet the great questions about the weakness and muddle at the heart of the West just at the moment. When confronting Communism, the West, in the Reagan/Thatcher years, had a sense of identity, a sense of being a "we" with a set of values rooted in a rich Christian heritage. Now, our officialdom is troubled about such concepts. There's an official sort of vaguely giggly embarrasment about recognising that we have any sort of definitive heritage, and a weird notion that Christianity shouldn't be allowed to be mentioned at all.

It was a relief to see the French gathering in vast numbers at Notre Dame.

Wednesday, November 18, 2015

The Ordinariate's official book of ...



...Divine Worship really is magnificent, with gold blocking and creamy pages and beautiful ribbon markers.Today I was helping here  with  parish-wide delivery of leaflets, each one individually addressed: all part of mission.   The new book of Divine Worship had just arrived and it is beautiful.

Any Anglican readers who long for full communion with the Catholic Church but who miss the Book of Common Prayer...come to an Ordinariate Form Mass, and find out about it all...

Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Religious freedom...

...and an excellent celebration in London to mark the launch of Benedict Rogers' splendid book From Burma to Rome  which tells the story of his own Christian journey in the context of his work for persecuted Christians in various countries including Burma and North Korea. It's partly a sort of Apologia, and partly an adventure story, and it works well...and the celebration this evening was hosted by Lord Alton and brought together all sorts of people from Parliament, Christian organisations, and academia...

Ben does wonderful work with Christian Solidarity Worldwide, and because he travels a great deal, the theme of a journey echoes throughout the book. The reader can in a sense accompany him, and the companionship is a good one, cheery and uplifting.

A delight to chat to, among others, young people from Youth 2000, the team from Aid to the Church in Need, Baroness Cox - who will shortly be presenting prizes, in the House of Lords, for the Schools Bible Project which I help to run - and the excellent Tom Longford of Gracewing Publishing. A particular pleasure to talk to Peter Smith, currently editor of Crossbow, magazine of the Conservative think-tank The Bow Group, The latest issue is a good read, tackles  topics including resuscitating the NHS, an authentic One Nation approach, a way forward from the current EU tangles...and more.

Long years ago, Auntie was editor of Crossbow. I still have some back copies poking out of a bookcase, and will look them up...

A gusty wind whirled across London, hurtling down golden and brown leaves into the lamplight as I walked back down The Mall and along by Parliament Square.

There will be another celebration for Benedict's book this Friday: all welcome...more about it here...

Monday, November 16, 2015

The Flag...

...on the Victoria Tower of the Houses of Parliament  was at half-mast this morning to mourn the deaths in the Paris massacre: a rather powerful sight as the train drew in towards Waterloo and the normal look of that view across the Thames suddenly had this small dramatic change.

Readng Religious Freedom Today, useful booklet produced by Aid to the Church in Need. Author John Newton has done an excellent job.


Sunday, November 15, 2015

To Aberystwyth...

...to speak to the Cathsoc...topic: "St John Paul, Catholic youth, and the future".  A lively, friendly bunch who gave me a warm welcome.  Lots of good talk: immensely stimulating and enjoyable.  An overnight stay and a glorious morning walk in the blustery wind along the seafront, with the hills sweeping up ahead, and the bright town with its sense of glow against the fierce elements...

The train line connects to Birmingham, which was ideal for me as my next visit was to Maryvale.  I spent many happy years studying here, and it was good to be back, The Brigettine sisters were at prayer and I went to join them, and then after supper there was time for good talk and catching up...

The ghastly events in Paris have of course been on everyone's minds...prayers today at Mass and the staff at Maryvale sent a message to their colleagues at the Ecole Cathedrale...

Thursday, November 12, 2015

Much enjoying...

...this book...

A meeting of...

...members of the FAITH Movement: it's got a great deal going on at the moment, with regular lectures in London and Glasgow, the Winter Session coming up, and plans for next year's Summer Session already under way, plus all the other events for younger teenagers etc. There is a Seminar which tackles a specific theological issue in depth over a weekend, gatherings for priests, and then the various events which crop up from time to time which in 2016 will include a group going to World Youth Day. But the meeting was looking at more, and there is considerable enthusiasm. FAITH has strong links with the Sisters of the Gospel of Life who in the midst of their magnificent work for mothers and babies manage to tackle all sorts of admin for FAITH, and to prove an inspiration to us all.

Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Shortly after I had finished writing...

...the piece about Krakow (see below - scroll down) I dropped in to Westminster Cathedral, partly to deliver some leaflets about the Towards Advent Festival.  Large numbers of pople were arriving, including young people in Scout uniform, and elderly men with flags and rows of medals.Intrigued, I enquired.  It was the Polish community, marking the 70th anniversary of the end of the Second World War and the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Britain, in which Polish squadrons fought with such courage.

I stayed. Paying tribute to the men who fought for Britain's freedom, only to be denied freedom for their own country when the war ended, is a debt of honour. Some years ago, I learned, through working on a book with a survivor, about the courageous battle of the Polish Home Army in the Warsaw Uprising, and growing up near a former Battle of Britain fighter station, I learned too about the Polish pilots.

For years and years, Poland could not honour her heroes properly, but the Polish exiles in London always did so. And now, 75 years after the war ended, here in London the Polish Embassy was doing so too. You can read more about this on the Embassy website, which also has some pix of the Mass.




"Mindfulness"...

...is a new  (silly) fad, and you hear about it all the time,  It's essentially a sort of substitute for religion.

So I was surprised to be told that the Maryvale Institute was running a course on it. They aren't, of course. But the name Maryvale is used by all sorts of institutions around the world - retreat centres, spas, clinics -  so when I googled "Maryvale mindfulness" I found places in Asia and America organising mindfulness retreats and events and whatever...and one in London that was being promoted on a website that also, separately, mentioned the Maryvale Institute  in a different section.

Which just goes to show that you need to check.

Monday, November 09, 2015

I watched...

...this and it made me want to be in Krakow...

World Youth Day in Madrid in 2011 was an amazing experience, despite - or perhaps because of - that great thunderstorm, dispelling the terrible heat and drawing us somehow all closer to dear Papa Benedict and to prayer together with him...attempting to cover it all as a journalist was v. demanding, but that was all part of the adventure.

Auntie is Definitely Too Old to go to WYD 2016...but...

Sunday, November 08, 2015

These are people well worth hearing...

...on topics that really matter. Find out more here. Already a lot of people have booked in, but there are still some places available, and it's all free...it's not absolutely crucial to book, but it helps with the arrangements.

Remembrance Sunday...

...and  I had promised to show visiting American Matt Pinto  and his family and colleagues around London: so we gathered at Precious Blood Church and joined the parish procession to the War Memorial in the Borough High Street. As always, it was dignified and moving: "O God our help in ages past..." the chimes  of Big Ben, relayed from Westminster (an innovation in recent years, made possible by new technology) marking the start of the Silence at 11am, the booming of guns as it finished...wreaths laid, prayers...

As it all finished, we processed back again to Precious Blood for Mass, which concluded with the National Anthem...

A pub lunch, long and talkative, then a walk across the Thames...history...Viking battles... the Tower...the Great Fire of 1666... and on to Kensington where they are all staying...




A delightful...

....Dinner and Ball in aid of the Good Counsel Network, which works to help  and support young pregnant women and their babies, saving them from abortion.

Lots and lots of  friends, especially young ones,  were there - I spent the whole evening greeting and being greeted, a very convivial atmosphere. A delicious dinner and a lot of dancing...when I left  shortly before midnight they were still moving and shaking on a packed dance floor to a pounding beat...

Thursday, November 05, 2015

Read about the 2015 Catholic Young Writer Award...

  here...

Just received...

....new book From Burma to Rome by Benedict Rogers. It's a good read. Benedict works for the human rights organisation Christian Solidarity Worldwide and has had some fascinating adventures meeting Christians in various countries where there is oppression or outright persecution...

He travels a lot and the book takes you to places around the globe, but  it is essentially about his spiritual journey. He interviews various people, among the most interesting  Lt Col Christopher Keeble, Falklands hero...


Wednesday, November 04, 2015

...and this sums up what most of us know and believe...

...on a controversial topic raised at the Synod...

Working all day tackling...

...themes of evangelising through beauty, via von Balthasar and Ratzinger...

In the evening, a meeting of the Ladies Ordinariate Group. Our speaker, on CS Lewis, was unable to come so I spoke instead, having spent the past weeks reading Alister McGrath's excellent new book  on Lewis and enjoying a fresh look at Mere Christianity,  which  I have been using as a prize this year for the Schools Bible Project.

J. home, tired after complicated travels...mugs of tea, catching up on news.

Fog all day yesterday....

... and J. got an extra day in Rome as there were no flights to London.

We quoted to one another the legendary newspaper headline summing up British attitude: "Fog in Channel: Continent isolated"...

I spent the day on academic work, then went to the All Souls Mass at St Patrick's, Soho. We are invited to write on cards the names of family members  and friends who have died, and place these among the garlands of bay leaves along the altar rails...the church was very full, the choir sang most beautifully...


Monday, November 02, 2015

...and on Sunday...

...early morning prayer in the great Abbey Church, and then, mid-morning, a magnificent All Saints Day Mass, with a superb choir: the singers come from across Devon to form one of the two choirs now associated with the Abbey. A substantial congregation: every pew was full, and people also sit, medieval style, along the low  wide ledges set against the wall, where the monks have thoughtfully provided mats against the hard stone...

A final cheery talkative lunch, and then farewells."We'll next be here when the trees are green in Spring" said our driver as we set  off through the glowing Autumn colours for the station...

The train ride from Newton Abbott along the Exe estuary is a delight and as darkness fe;ll I got out some tapestry: it's a kneeler for the chapel of the John Fisher School and all in the school colours of blue and gold. The nice girl sitting next to me took an interest, and when I wondered about the date of the school's foundation - I'd just got to that bit of the design - she googled it for me on her mobile phone. The uses of modernity: a Victorian lady sewing on a Great Western railway journey would marvel at such convenience.

By family tradition, I frequently break West Country journeys to visit beloved young relatives who live conveniently along this route: a joyful evening of family chat, young parents,their enchnating little girl and her delicious new baby brother, great happiness.

Sunday, November 01, 2015

Monks...

...chanting the final Office of the day into the glorious arches of Buckfast Abbey, while in the darkened church candles glow on every altar for this Eve of All Hallows, and I find a place in the in a pew and simply soak it all in...

I'm here for a catechetics course: lots to study and discuss, but also a sense of peace with the rythm of the Benedictine monastic hours. And the glowing, golden leaves of this extraordinarily mild Auumn...and good company at meals and at lectures and at prayer...and the beauty of Devon...